News Release #163

Posted on Jun 30, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Lydia Szyjka
610-647-4400, Ext. 3143

IMMACULATA UNIVERSITY OFFERS TRAINING PROGRAM FOR ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) CERTIFICATE

Immaculata University is an approved provider of training for people interested in receiving certification as an English as a Second Language (ESL) Program Specialist. The ESL program is approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Classes for the fall semester begin Wednesday, August 27.

Teachers of ESL will learn about or further develop awareness of:

the nature of and variation in language including English

the English Language Learner in terms of language development and support services needed

the principles and practices of second language teaching and assessment

the implications of cross-cultural factors in education contexts

Required courses for the completion of the training include: Issues in Contemporary Culture of the United States or Multicultural/Multilingual Issues; General Linguistics; Teaching English as a Second Language; Structure of English; Special Issues in ELL Education; and Second Language Acquisition. Candidates for a Program Specialist-English as a Second Language (ESL) certificate must have a valid Pennsylvania Instructional I or II certificate. For teachers not teaching ESL regularly in a classroom setting in grades K-12, an additional 30-hour ESL Practicum is also required. Teachers are encouraged to submit documentation of relevant graduate courses for review in terms of the required State competencies.

Margaret van Naerssen, Ph.D., coordinator of the program in Cultural and Linguistic Diversity at Immaculata, comments that "Immaculata University has a 25-year history of graduate programs in TESOL and bilingual education. Thus, we are especially glad to be in the position to continue and extend our support to ESL teachers at K-12 with
this new initiative by the State."

The College of Graduate Studies at Immaculata also offers a master´s degree in Cultural and Linguistic Diversity with concentrations in TESOL and Bilingual Studies.

For more information on the ESL training program, please contact the College of Graduate Studies at 610-647-4400, ext. 3211.

Immaculata University, a Catholic liberal arts institution, is located 20 miles west of Philadelphia, south of the intersection of routes 30 and 352, between Paoli and Exton.